SC Permits voluntary use of Aadhaar Cards in Welfare Schemes

Supreme Court (SC) has permitted Union Government to voluntary use Aadhaar card scheme in Welfare Schemes. It has been extended for schemes like MGNREGA, PM’s Jan Dhan Yojana, all types of pension schemes and EPF.

The apex court modified its earlier order which restricted use of Aadhaar to public distribution system (LPG) and LPG (cooking gas) subsidy.

The modified order was ruled by five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu and mentioned that Aadhaar card scheme is purely voluntary and not mandatory.

It was issued on a batch of requests made by Union Government, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDIA), Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and various government regulators IRDAI,SEBI, TRAI etc.